Conventional fluid and water heaters include a tank or reservoir containing a predetermined amount of water into which a heating element is positioned. The water inside the tank is maintained at a predetermined temperature so that it is easily available upon demand. A drawback with the conventional water heater is that there is a loss of valuable energy by heat convection out of the tank or reservoir.
Accordingly, various structures have been proposed to minimize such heat loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,952,182 issued to Flanders on Apr. 20, 1976 teaches a miniature instantaneous electric fluid heater adaptable to be mounted immediately in advance of a hot water faucet. The heater includes a fluid-holding heating vessel having at least one heating element to heat the fluid and having an inlet assembly at its bottom end and an outlet assembly at its top end.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,465 issued to Knight on Jul. 10, 1984 teaches an instantaneous fluid heater having a fluid inlet, a plurality of heating chambers having heating elements and a fluid outlet. The heating chambers are interconnected by means of laterally extending passageways.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,896 issued to Maus on Feb. 13, 1990 teaches a continues flow heater having a sealed chamber containing an electrical heating element and a diaphragm having an orifice through which water must flow upon demand. The centre of the diaphragm translates axially in response to the water flow and moves an internal magnet, which influences an external magnet to throw a flow switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,642 issued to Posen on Aug. 1, 1995 teaches an instantaneous water heater having an inlet cylinder for receiving water from a supply and an outlet cylinder to discharge heated water. A plurality of heat exchange chambers is formed between the inlet and outlet cylinders. The chambers are positioned in a row and to allow for water to flow in a serpentine manner therethrough. The chambers include heaters controlled by triacs. The inlet cylinder includes a magnet that rises in response to water to close a reed switch in order to turn the power on.
A drawback with the prior art is inefficiency, high cost and complicated design.
There thus remains a need for an improved water heater.